Diesel hit a record, then eased to $6.382

The EIA survey for the week of September 28, 2026 printed $6.382 a gallon for U.S. on-highway diesel. That is 14.7 cents below the week of September 21, when the same series hit $6.529, the highest weekly reading since the record began in 1994. The September 21 week was up $2.780 from $3.749 a year earlier. The new week is still $2.628 above $3.754 a year earlier. The 2022 peak, around $5.81, remains below both readings.

September was a climb and then a step down: $5.967 on September 7, $6.285 on September 14, $6.529 on September 21, $6.382 on September 28. The next weekly release is scheduled for October 6. Until that table is published, $6.382 is the latest official index. Do not rewrite a contract off a truck-stop sign.

The national number hides a wide map

For the week of September 28, California averaged $8.181. The Lower Atlantic, which includes much of the Southeast, averaged $5.953. The Midwest was $6.526, down from $6.680 the week before. A shipper in Georgia and a shipper in California are not living in the same fuel market, even when a contract quotes the national DOE average.

Why the sign at the truck stop will not match

Three different diesel prices circulate at once. The EIA weekly number is a retail survey used in fuel surcharges, and it lags the week. A daily average such as AAA moves faster and will not match. Futures for ultra-low-sulfur diesel, the wholesale benchmark traders watch, sit well below the pump. The gap is tax, refining, distribution, and station margin. None of those is the number a surcharge uses unless the contract says so.